...and on the subject of the family, and the Synod in Rome, and so on...

...this is a good read...

The past few days have seen...

...a  lot of happy things in our wider family circle.  First, a beloved nephew and niece-in-law presented us with a delicious and enchanting new baby boy...a great-nephew for Auntie!!!

Then another young relative telephoned with news of her engagement to be married. This brings great joy.  We first met the young man a little while back and liked him enormously...it's all absolutely delightful, and there is a fizz of happiness and excitement all round...

Family life is the very essence of life itself.

 

The Franciscan Friars...

...of the Renewal will be at the TOWARDS ADVENT Festival on Sat Nov 28th. Come and meet them!

Off to a school...

...at Bexleyheath in Kent, to present prizes won by pupils in the Schools Bible Project, of which I am chairman.  The boys looked very smart in their blazers and the atmosphere was courteous, cheerful and welcoming. It is always moving to hear young men's voices saying the Lord's Prayer.

Cranmer's prose in a Catholic cathedral...

...read here

Because...

...of  a notable "blood moon" glowing in the sky, and a lunar eclipse, some people are apparently announcing that there is going to be a Great Catastrophe shortly from which only a remnant of us will survive  or - another school of thought - that the world is about to end and no one will survive at all. Or that there will be a sort of middling catastrophe. Or something.

As a Catholic journalist, one gets used to prophesies. My personal favourite among the nonsensicals was the chap in America who announced that high floodwater affecting Lourdes was a sign that Blessed John Paul (the object of his vicious and ill-tempered loathing) should not have been beatified, and that something would happen to prevent the canonisation.  Uh? No, I didn't get the connection either - and nor did Heaven, The glorious canonisation took place in Rome with millions watching: beloved John Paul the Great and dear John XXIII, canonised by Pope Francis with Pope Benedict in enthusiastic attendance: two Popes in Heaven and two (one Emeritus) on earth, all in prayer together - a first in history. And Lourdes - which St John paul so loved - contnues to flourish, and treasures his memory.

No apology from the chap in America - he's probably still sulking.

Another chap - this in a paperback sent to me in the mid-1980s - announced a series of natural disasters in Britain from which the Royal Family would seek to escape by flying to Bermuda, only to be killed en route. And all the offshore islands around our coasts (Isle of Wight? Ireland? He didn't specifiy) would suddenly disappear.

Then there are the conspiracy types: there is Going to be a Great Catastrophe But They're Keeping the Secret From Us. The last two Popes, in league with all sorts of Secret Societies, conspired to  Stop Us Discovering the Secret. Often this comes with a plea to attend a conference/read a publication/support a campaign to ensure that The Hidden Secret Will Be Announced At Last.

And then there's the Rapture...predicted now for several decades, with each prediction passing its sell-by date.

Meanwhile the moon hangs in the sky, and  men make errors and wars, and humanity - with its tragedies, achievements,  hopes, disapointments and mistakes -  muddles on..  No one in the Spring of 1914 predicted the horror that was to unfold in Europe that summer, no one in 1869 predicted that in exactly 100 years Americans would walk on the moon and speak directly from there to people on earth. In the reign of Elizabeth I, no soothsayer foresaw a nobler and greater Elizabeth who would one day welcome a Pope to our shores. In the 18th century no prophet from Grantham announced that a daughter of the town's grocer would become Prime Minister in the 20th.

The certainties for the future are God's continued love, and humanity's continued follies and occasional greatness...and the general unpredictability of things.

Enjoy the glowing moon and don't be afraid.

As I approached...

...Westminster Cathedral for Mass this morning, I was unexpectedly hailed by a friend, Delia, (who is secretary of the Catholic Writers' Guild) so we went in together. It is a good while since I went to the main sung Sunday High Mass at the Cathedral, and it was every bit as glorious as I remembered...choirboys  in crisp white surplices walking in procession, filling that vast space with song, sunlight pouring down on the chancel from the windows high up in the apse, candles glittering, incense wafting. And for any  Catholic Londoner, there is a sense of being at home here.

Later I met the excellent Daniel Cooper of John Fisher School fame and we lunched together. His magnificent work for the Faith Movement is still bearing fruit...he has invited me to speak to the Faith Club there in October and it will be a joy and privilege to do so.

A golden September day: I spent rhe afternoon with a beloved elderly relative, and the walk home in cool Autumnal air with leaves fluttering down was so beautiful.

A gathering...

...of authors who write for the CTS. Drinks, delicious snacks, an excellent speech by Francis Campbell,  lots and lots of lively talk, a wonderful evening...

THE SYNOD ON THE FAMILY...A MESSAGE...

Read it here: 

And send comments about it all to this Blog if you want...

A picture of my husband with...

...Pope, now Saint, John Paul...many pictures of family weddings and christenings...a pic of small Bogle nieces with Auntie Joanna on the London Eye...of  my husband in Army uniform alongside me in a taffetta ballgown...of an enthusiastic GREAT Aunt and Uncle with great-nephews and nieces...of Bogles in Berlin and London, in Somerset and Oxfordshire, in Melbourne, in Brisbane...

A beloved niece has been staying and commented on the experience of sleeping in a room crowded with pix of her nearest-and-dearest. Today, whisking through a routine tidy-up, I pause to look at them all....graduations and celebrations, formal portaits and Christmas get-togethers...memories...

At the weekend we celebrated a quietly important Wedding Anniversary. Thank God for marriage and family life.

A busy day at...

...this university where I am involved with post-graduate study. Coffee and theological chat. Library time.  Lunchtime Mass in the rather fine chapel, and then sandwiches and pies and tea and talk with young people in the Chaplaincy. More Library time, lots to do...

Meanwhile in America...

...Papa Francis has begun his visit: it's astonishing to note that the sight of an American President warmly greeting the Pope in Washington now just seems a standard scene....yet six or seven decades ago it would have seemed utterly astonishing.  Pope Francis has given a rather inspiring address to the Bishops of the USA, with stirring references to America's great plains and vast cities,  its  blessings of freedom and prosperity... the phrases richer and resonating with a greater depth, than his usual style.

There has been much comment and discussion about the visit: this is a perceptive piece.  Among   more superficial and chatty but relevant comment this is worth a look...

Obviously there'll be plenty of commentators eager to spin things - especially with the Synod on the Family waiting in the wings to take centre-stage as the next big Catholic news story after this one. The inevitable (and now almost ritual) ooh-this-Pope-will-change-Church-teachings-about-sex assertions will be annoying.

Archbishop DiNoia.....

....of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith was chief celebrant at a Mass at Westminster Cathedral this morning - and made history. This was the first time that an Archbishop  has concelebrated Mass in the Ordinariate Form in the great Cathedral of our capital city, with Ordinariate priests from across Britain, and a great gathering of the faithful And it was glorious.  We heard and saw and sang  the much discussed "Anglican patrimony", now brought into the Catholic Church, and there was a sense  of joy and rightness about it.

This was a full day - in the morning Ordinariate groups gathered in conference in the Cathedral Hall, with speakers tackling a range of subjects...mission, finance, World Youth Day....while children were given a special tour of the Cathedral led by Father Paul Burch from Coventry, and we at the LOGS group were kept busy serving freshly-brewed coffee and tea....

After Mass and lunch Archbishop DiNoia spoke - extremely well - about the whole concept of Anglican patrimony, unity and communion within the Church, and the future.  He noted how - as always happens - things evolve and happen in different ways from those planned or expected, and how  all this occurs within the scope of the Church...

We were given an opportunity to see the development of the Ordinariate in the context of the vision for unity given at the Second Vatican Council, and to recognise its importance in a new way.

Yesterday evening the conference began with an inspiring talk by Fr Gerald Sheehan, of Opus Dei, at Precious Blood Church at London Bridge, followed by a reception. The numbers were far too large  for the Parish room, so we were in the  church itself, with wine and (delicious) food served in the narthex. Fr Sheehan's talk set the tone for the whole conference weekend - seeing the Church as a communion, and what this should mean for all its members and the way we work with and for one another...

It's not Jeremy Corbyn that worries me...

...it's his young, posh, spoilt, rich  I'm-a-socialist shrieking teen supporters, privately schooled, expensively clad, fussily fed. They think that shouting "Tory scum" is innovative and brave, and they chatter away on the internet making identikit noises...this is a mindset fed on a sort of Guardian/animal rights/NATOisevil/vaguelyvegetarian/feministjargoniscompulsory diet...

The first HISTORY WALK...

...of this new Autumn season. Meet on MONDAY (Sept 21s) 6.3pm, steps of Westminster Cathedral....we'll take a look at St James, Whitehall, and Buckingham palace...

All welcome. No need to book, just turn up.

Prison...

...where I did some catechetical work. Comment from a young prisoner in his 20s, who has recently rediscovered his Christian faith: "At school, they teach you about all the other religions - Hinduism, Moslems, and everything. But they don't teach you about your own." He attended a standard (not Catholic) comprehensive school. I am aware that many schools do offer a fair opportunity for children to encounter Christianity - but his comment reflects a generally-held view among many 15-30 year olds who come from a vaguely Christian background and feel that they should have been given a much richer introduction to Christianity at school.

Separately, and unrelated to the above, from working in prisons and elsewhere, I've come to understand the first-hand reality of the  terrible disconnection between many people in powerful positions and those who are at the bottom of the social heap. Example:  a typical probation officer today is young,female, well paid, very career-orientated and talks in jargon. Clothing tends to be short skirts, big dangly earrings and slightly aggressively high-heeled boots. It's all look-at-me-I'm-powerful stuff, and it's very much a don't-ever-criticise-me style.   The jargon tends to involve labelling people and actions and ideas and problems, so that everything somehow seems less human and less ordinary than it would otherwise be.The language, style and attitude are most definitely not about service or  neighbourliness.

Down at the bottom of life's heap,  many male prisoners are not very verbal, and are at a disadvantage in the use of jargon. Many might find it easier to talk to a probation officer of their own sex, and perhaps of their own age, or older.  But they do not have this right, which seems a bit unfair.

WHERE WAS AUNTIE AT THE WEEKEND?

In Kent, at a village celebration: read here

GOD SAVE THE QUEEN...

...and Catholics in Britain today gave thanks for her long reign. Read the message from Cardinal Vincent  Nichols here...and listen in to Vatican Radio here...

Prayers for Her Majesty and the singing of the National Anthem at Catholics churches across the country this morning, as she became Britain's longest-reignng monarch.

DEO GRATIAS...

...for the vote against the assisted-killing-of-gravely-ill-people plan in the House of Commons.

Parliament has spoken. Under our constitution, Parliament makes our laws.

Let us insist that this rejection of legalised killing will not be undermined by some sleight of hand through an announcement by some piece of "European Union" bureaucracy, or a sudden random decision by officialdom or whatever.

A brief and readable analysis of the topic here.

Staying with relatives...

...on the Kent/Sussex border. A catching-up-with-family-news time, and then tomorrow I am off to Mass here to in the parish celebrations.   That link will take you to the remarkable little village parish at Pembury in Kent...and if you want to know more of its story, you should send a Comment to this Blog WITH A NAME AND FULL POSTAL ADDRESS (which I will not print) for the latest issue of FAITH magazine, which carries an intervew with Fr Ed, the priest...

During a busy week, with much travelling, I've been reading Michael Gaitley's The Second Greatest Story Ever Told, which sheds interesting light on the life and message of St John Paul.

Scotland...

...and a warm welcome in Edinburgh from Mgr Patrick Burke at St Mary's Cathedral.

Bishop Michael Nazir-Ali will be speaking at the Cathedral on September 17th, discussing the theme of threats to religious freedom both in Britain and in the world. This should be well worth hearing - he is knowlegeable and it's an important subject...info here...

We had a useful meeting of the Editorial Board of FAITH magazine. (Incidentally Bishop Michael is among our regular contributors).  The current issue - just out - is specially focused on the foirthcoming Synod in Rome. Want a copy? See the previous post: just send a Comment to this Blog - I won't publish it - with your FULL NAME AND POSTAL ADDRESS.

Overnight stay with the Sisters of the Gospel of Life in Glasgow, where I am writing this.

The new issue of FAITH MAGAZINE...

...has just come out. Want a sample copy? Send a Comment to this Blog WITH A FULL NAME AND ADDRESS TO WHICH THE MAGAZINE CAN BE SENT, and I'll do my best to oblige.

A sense of Autumn approaching...

...and the apple-trees this year are spectacularly laden.A neighbour allows me to gather as many as I want, and I make apple jelly for all the nearby residents. At church, there's a sense of "term time" beginning again with Sunday School re-starting and meetings happening. I'm off to Scotland next week for an Editorial gathering for FAITH magazine.

Big Blessed Sacrament Procession through London: Sat Oct 3rd, starts 1.30pm at Westminster Cathedral. BE THERE!  Crosses the Thames at Lambeth Bridge, finishes with Benediction at St George's Cathedral, Southwark.

Ordinariate Festival  coming up at Westminster: info here.

A happy evening...

...at the Brigettine Guest House  at Iver in Buckinghamshire. I stayed overnight - it's extremely comfortable, much, nicer than many hotels...I had a little balcony, and a lovely room with a desk and sofar and so on...and a bathroom with a gloriously hot shower and thick fluffy towels...

The reason for my visit was to speak about the remarkable Mother Riccarda Hambrough, who with considerable heroism hid Jewish refugees in the Brigettine convent in Rome in WWII. It's quite a story - and one about which you will be hearing a lote more over the next few years as the pssibility of her canonisation is discussed further. It was good to be reviewing and discussing this whole topic, especially as among those in the audience were sisters from the order to which the secretary of Pius XII belonged.  A really good evening of discussion - I loved it all.

The Brigettines at Iver are mostly from India, and are a lovely and welcoming team. They had some sisters visiting from Denmark and this morning some were off to London to do some sightseeing together. There's an infectious sense of joy and enthusiasm for life among these women.

if the anonymous person...

who wrote to me about her school, Cardinal Gagnon, etc, would like to send me a message with an email address to which I can reply, I will most happil do so. I cannot reply to a Comment : it is specifically neccessary to include an email address in the body of the text.

St Gregory the Great...

...sent a team of missionaries headed by St Augustine to evangelise the pagan Angles and Saxons on this island. And last night we commemorated him with joy, at a special celebration at St Augustine's Shrine at Ramsgate on the Kent coast.  Fathers Marcus Holden and Andrew Pinsent - of  Evangelium etc -  were both marking the 10th anniversary of ordination, and concelebrated a glorious Mass in Pugin's magnificent  Abbey Church. It was a great joy and privilege to be there. Fr Nicholas Schofield preached, and spoke powerfully of Pope St Gregory's mission and of the unbroken link that takes us back through the centuries, the faith that was brought here and flourishes anew in each era. The evening had a family feel - it was the Golden Wedding Anniversturiesary of Fr Andrew's parents, and he gave them a most beautiful blessing at the end of Mass. And then followed a feast with a candlelit buffet table spread with good things, and cakes to be cut, and speeches, and toasts, culminating in the singing of  "Ad Multos Annos" by all the priests,  former students of the Venerable English College in Rome.  This is always moving - and  it brought back memories of the ordinations  and jubilees of various friends down the years...

It was delightful to sit in Pugin's magnificent Grange and relax with wine and talk...and then when I departed, at a late hour, for my hotel, I walked for a moment by the sea, with the waves washing up along the shore far below,and thought of Augustine coming to us across that water...and the Angles and Saxons who had arrived earlier in wave after wave, and the British who were there earlier and had been evangelised earlier...and today along this coast new waves of people are arriving...

A little picture...

...with a longish story...

Auntie is seen here sewing a kneeler for a church in Kent. This pic was taken when I was sewing my very first kneeler, a couple of years ago. And I have just finished what I think may be the final one...bringing the total up to about a dozen. And on Sunday Sept 13th the church at Pembury in Kent will be celebrating its recent refurbishment,  with the opening of its new hall and the unveiling of a plaque, a Bishop celebrating Mass, general jollifications afterwards...

A friend in Australia...

...notes that Pope Francis has announced that, because the Jubilee Year of Mercy "excludes no one"   Lefebvrist priests can give valid absolution during this Year of Mercy, with the hope that "in the near future" a solution may be found to their situation. So Auntie's comment of a few days' back may turn out to be right...they may be on the way to repentance.

And in the spirit of the Year of Mercy we'll all be gracious.

...and I have a letter in...

...the latest issue of Standpoint magazine...

Read Auntie in...

...THE PORTAL here...